Decent episode with 3 fun stories but nothing memorable either.
[7.5/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] A very solid outing, especially this long after the show’s golden years. You can still tell that Jerkass Homer is in play, but jokes are solid, the stories have beginnings, middles, and ends, and there’s neat premises and animation.
The weakest part is probably the opening, a pretty tepid homage to Tales from the Crypt without much to add to the reference.
The first segment sees Homer turn into a giant, man-eating blog after consuming a “space marshmallow.” The Dr. Phil cameo is pretty gratuitous, but it leads to a nice gag on his resemblance to Jeffrey Tambor, and the visuals of Blob Homer ambling around win the day. Gags like “I’ll savor you” and “beer-battered Germans” are worth a laugh as well.
The middle segment is probably my favorite, if only for the yiddish spin on everything as Richard Lewis plays a golem. There’s plenty of slapstick murder and mayhem to go ‘round, and the twist with Fran Drescher of all people is a nice way to close things out.
Last but not least is the War of the Worlds parody. It’s great to have Maurice LaMarche in tow to reprise his Orson Welles impression (seen in Ed Wood and used to similar ends in Pinky and the Brain). The notion of the alien invasion hoax unintentionally softening humanity up for a real alien invasion is a nice twist, and the old timey jokes practically write themselves. I’m less enamored with the heavy-handed Iraq commentary at the end, not because I disagree necessarily, but just because it’s more on the nose than I like the show to be. That said, the image of Springfield in ruins and the classic song playing as the image lingers has a nice Blackadder sort of poignance to it.
Overall, one of the show’s better post-classic Halloween outings.
Shout by WinchesterBlockedParent2021-10-22T21:50:32Z
First story was the best and also the opening crypt keeper <3